What is BREGRET? Definition and meaning

BREGRET is a new word that has entered the informal English language this month. In fact, it was hardly ever used before 23rd June, 2016, when the British electorate voted on whether to Remain or Leave the European Union.

BREGRET stands for BRExit reGRET, i.e. voting to Leave the EU and then regretting that decision later.

A person who Bregrets is known as either a Bregreter or Bregreteer – the terms have not been around long enough to determine which one is correct.

BREGRET stands for BRExit reGRET. People who voted to leave the European Union and then regretted it.

Many people who voted for Brexit, i.e. to leave the EU, wanted to protest against the establishment. They had not really thought the consequences through. It was not until later that they realised they were not only harming the establishment, but perhaps themselves too.

Brexit voters woke up and were shocked

On Friday morning, when the result came in at 52% supporting Leave and 48% backing Remain, the pound went into freefall, the stock market fell, scores of property buyers across the country – and especially in London – pulled out of deals, fearing that they could fall into negative equity if they went ahead with their purchase.

The price of property started to fall. By the end of the day, Moody’s, a company that rates countries – gives them a credit rating score – announced that because of the UK’s Brexit vote, it was downgrading Britain’s credit rating to ‘Negative’.

All these things happened within 24 hours of the referendum result.

So, what would we call the action of somebody who voted to Remain and then regretted it. It could not be REGRET, because that already has a meaning. Perhaps it would be MAINGRET.

Hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions of people across the country who voted to Leave, regretted their action – they are known as BREGRETERS (or prehaps BREGETEERS).

BREGRET spread even faster across the country when Nigel Farage, head of the anti-EU UKIP party, went back on a Leave campaign pledge to channel £350 million each week that went to the EU, to the NHS. He said that it had been a mistake to make that pledge, and that he had never made it – he blamed Boris Johnson and his campaign for making that mistake.

Then later in the day, a conservative MP said the level of immigration is unlikely to decrease just because the country left the EU.

So two major pledges – money for the NHS and cutting immigration – collapsed within one day. Hence the term BREGRET emerged, as scores of people started to regret voting for Brexit.